Merle vs Merton
American parents have registered 45,389 Merles since 1880, against 4,247 Mertons. Merle is still ahead, with 38 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Merle Merton
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 146 years in which either name was published, Merle for 145 years and Merton for 1 year. The lead changed hands once.
Side by side
| Merle | Merton | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 45,389 | 4,247 |
| Most in one year | 1,275 | 150 |
| Babies in 2025 | 38 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 11,000 | 670 |
| Median age today | 72 | 73 |
| Peak year | 1925 | 1920 |
| Best rank | 175th boys | 493rd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 3,450th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 14,723 / 30,666 | 0 / 4,247 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Where each one is strongest
- Merle South Dakota (6.9×), Iowa (5.6×), Nebraska (4.7×)
- Merton Maine (28.6×), Vermont (13.0×), Minnesota (6.1×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Merle and Merton.